Digital Mobile Technologies to study Tuberculosis: A Multi-disciplinary Program

项目摘要 根据世界卫生组织（世卫组织）的数据，全球结核病负担在2000年达到顶峰， 此后每年下降2.0%。虽然这一进展令人鼓舞，但结核病仍是一个主要原因， 每年有140多万人死于这种疾病。此外，中低收入国家 特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲和东南亚， 与世界其他地区相比。该提案的总体目标很简单：减轻 撒哈拉以南非洲，特别是乌干达的结核病。为了实现这一目标，我们认为需要新的衡量标准 结核病负担，导致可采取行动的步骤，以减少传播或防止感染进展 疾病。我们还需要更好的方法来管理这一疾病，确保适当坚持有效的治疗 方案，以实现预期的临床结果。目前的建议是建立在数字移动的 技术，不是以健康为目的开发的，可以在想象力和新颖性方面加以利用。 提供有关结核病传播、感染和疾病的有用信息的方法。事实上， 十年来，我们已经开发了一系列使用蜂窝电话元数据的研究项目，支持GPS 手表和智能手机视频应用程序来研究坎帕拉结核病持续存在的核心问题， 乌干达更广泛。这些项目产生了庞大、复杂和相互连接的数据库， 高水平的量化技能和复杂性来管理和分析。然而，设计研究的专业知识 分析这些类型的数据目前只掌握在来自不同学科的一小群研究人员手中， 流行病学、地理学、网络科学、计算、机器学习和人工智能， 他人为了充分发挥数字移动的技术在测量有用健康信息方面的潜力，我们 建议建立一个临界质量的研究人员与专业知识跨越两个或两个以上的学科谁是专门的 应用新的方法来研究结核病持续存在的长期而顽固的问题， 在非洲 为了在乌干达建立这一临界质量的研究人员，我们提出了以下具体目标：1。训练两个 格鲁吉亚大学（UGA）流行病学的乌干达博士预科生，其中一个特别侧重于 结核病地理学和其他重点是机器学习和人工智能，以提高 数字附着技术; 2.每年培养2至3名马凯雷雷大学硕士生 通过支持他们的硕士论文研究与结核病和地理，计算机科学， 或现代数字技术; 3.开展非学位培训，以建立和加强研究能力， 数字移动的技术和结核病，每年举办有关专题的短期课程， 每月的研究研讨会，以及乌干达卫生协会的现代数字卫生技术研讨会 科学家年会。

Project Summary According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global burden of tuberculosis peaked in 2000 and has since declined by 2.0% per year. Although this progress is encouraging, tuberculosis remains a leading cause of death, as over 1.4 million people die per year of the disease. Moreover, low- and middle-income countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia bear a disproportionately high burden of tuberculosis compared to other parts of the world. The overarching goal of this proposal is simple: to reduce the burden of tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Uganda. To reach this goal, we believe that we need new metrics for tuberculosis burden that lead to actionable steps to reduce transmission or prevent progression of infection to disease. We also need better ways to manage the disease by ensuring proper adherence to effective treatment regimens to achieve desired clinical outcomes. The current proposal is built upon the premise that digital mobile technologies, that were not developed with health purposes in mind, may be leveraged in imaginative and novel ways to provide useful information about tuberculosis transmission, infection, and disease. Indeed, over the past decade, we have developed a portfolio of research projects using cellular telephone metadata, GPS-enabled watches, and smartphone video apps to study central questions about tuberculosis persistence in Kampala and Uganda more broadly. These projects have generated large, complex and interconnected databases that require a high level of quantitative skills and sophistication to manage and analyze. Yet, the expertise to design studies and analyze these types of data currently lies in a small group of researchers from diverse disciplines, such as epidemiology, geography, network science, computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence, among others. To realize the full potential of digital mobile technologies in measuring useful health information, we propose to build a critical mass of researchers with expertise across two or more disciplines who are dedicated to applying new methods to study the longstanding and stubborn questions about the persistence of tuberculosis in Africa. To create this critical mass of researchers in Uganda, we propose the following Specific Aims: 1. To train two Ugandan pre-doctoral trainees at the University of Georgia (UGA) in epidemiology, one with a special focus on geography of tuberculosis and the other with focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance digital adherence technology; 2. To train two to three master’s students per year enrolled at Makerere University by supporting their master’s thesis research in topics related to tuberculosis and geography, computer science, or modern digital technologies; 3. To conduct non-degree training to build and strengthen research capacity in digital mobile technologies and tuberculosis through annual recess-term short courses on relevant topics, monthly research seminars, and modern digital health technologies symposia at the Ugandan Society of Health Scientists’ annual conference.